ThothWeb - Scientists claim to find Homer's Ithaca

Scientists claim to find Homer's Ithaca

Posted on Sunday, October 02, 2005 (CDT) by Thoth

A British team using Australian technology believe they may have solved a mystery that has baffled scholars for more than 2,000 years - the whereabouts of Ithaca a rocky island described in Homer's Odyssey.

The team led by management consultant and businessman Robert Bittlestone claimed it had found compelling evidence in support of the location of ancient Ithaca.

In a new book: Odysseus Unbound - The Search for Homer's Ithaca, Bittlestone concludes that Ithaca was not the Greek island now called Ithaki, but was instead located on what is believed to have been the previously separated western peninsula of the island of Kefallinia, an area now called Paliki. Geospatial imaging software from Australian firm OziExplorer was integral to the discovery, Bittlestone said.

The claim is being plugged as one of the most important classical discoveries since the unearthing of Troy in north-western Turkey in the 1870s.

However, some scholars and archaeologists have concluded that, although Troy was a real city, Ithaca must have reflected the imagination of the ancient Greek poet Homer.

Homer wrote about the island in his epics, Iliad and Odyssey, and described it as the home of legendary Greek hero Odysseus.

Bittlestone came up with his theory after undertaking field trips in western Greece and using his computer to analyse literary, geological and archaeological data.

He also used satellite imagery and 3D global visualisation techniques developed by NASA to look for clues in the Greek landscape.

Once he had formulated his opinion, he enlisted the help of experts who said it was likely to be correct.

The book is co-authored by James Diggle, professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Cambridge, and John Underhill, professor of stratigraphy at the University of Edinburgh.

Bittlestone said: "Our purpose has been to demonstrate that there is something both very new and very old to be found at this new location and that we should now treat the existence of ancient Ithaca very seriously.

"We also look forward to the reaction of Homeric scholars and geological experts worldwide.

"Irrespective of whether this is critical or supportive - and we anticipate a wide spectrum of response - some form of secretariat will be required to ensure that existing information and new developments can be shared effectively.

"I hope that what has been achieved so far will represent only a beginning."

The location of Ithaca has remained a mystery for generations.

Some experts have argued that Homer's description does not match the layout of the existing Greek island Ithaki and no convincing Bronze Age remains have been found there.

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